What is a dental emergency?

If you have a dental problem that requires immediate treatment from a dentist so that your tooth could be saved, to stop tissue bleeding, or to alleviate severe pain, then you have a dental emergency. Today, you can receive immediate dental care from dentists that provide emergency services. However, not every dental problem is an emergency.

It is important to contact a 24h dentist right away depending on the severity of your symptoms. Never wait until it is too late. You should visit an emergency dentist immediately and no later than the next day. When the emergency dentist has examined your condition, the appropriate treatment will be prescribed to you.

If you need emergency dental services, you can easily be accommodated by an emergency walk-in dentist. At AZ Specialty Dental, your dental emergency issues will be addressed. You can get adequate dental care whenever you need it. And what is great about emergency services is that you do not have to wait for regular business hours but you can just walk-in anytime you have an emergency. You can get your issues resolved when it occurs since they are even open weekends and holidays.

Common Dental Emergencies

Chipped, Cracked or Fractured Teeth

A chipped tooth that is not painful is not a dental emergency. You simply need to make a regular dental appointment for this problem. In order not to worsen the chip, make sure to be careful when you chew. Your regular dentist will be able to smoothen out the chip or else repair the tooth by adding some composite filling.

But if your tooth is cracked or fractured, then this is a dental emergency case. If your teeth are cracked or fractured, then it may be not only the outside that is damaged but also the inside of the tooth. If the fracture is severe, the tooth can no longer be saved. It is important to call your emergency dentist as soon as possible for an emergency appointment if your tooth is fractured.

Use warm water to rinse your mouth thoroughly. If the fracture is caused by trauma to the face, you can minimize swelling by applying a cold compress to the area. To alleviate pain, take acetaminophen according to package directions. If the dentist is to properly diagnose your tooth, an x-ray needs to be taken. If the damage is done to the soft tissue inside your tooth, then a root canal is needed. If the pulp is not damaged, then you will only need a crown.

Knocked-out Tooth

If you fall off a bike or your mouth gets hit by an elbow playing basketball, you can experience trauma where your teeth are displaced or knocked out. Appropriate steps have to be taken after your tooth has been knocked-out so that it can still be reinstated and preserved by your emergency dentist.

Pick up your tooth by the crown without touching the roots. Clean the tooth by rinsing it gently. You can try putting your tooth back into the socket. Hold it gently in place while trying to bite down. Otherwise, get a small container to put your tooth in or put your tooth in a cup of milk. If you want to save your knocked-out tooth, you need to call your dentist as soon as possible. But if you wait longer for your knocked-out tooth to be re-implanted in its socket, your chances of being able to have your tooth back is reduced.

Loose Tooth or Misaligned Tooth

Call your emergency dentist immediately if your tooth is loose or out of alignment. You can use your fingers to try pushing your tooth back into its proper position with light pressure. Bite down to stop the tooth from moving. To keep your tooth stabilized, your emergency dentist may splint the tooth to the adjacent one.

Oral Infection

Oral infection is another type of dental emergency. An infection can occur in the floor of your mouth, under your tongue and is accompanied by swelling around the jawline or under your mouth. This is also associated with breathing difficulty or swallowing. Immediate medical care is required for this situation since the infection from the oral cavity can travel to tissues around the heart. Another type of infection that needs immediate care is tooth abscess. This can develop if cavities are not treated. This can cause severe toothache, facial swelling, and difficulty in breathing and swallowing. The first stage of a root canal can be performed by an emergency dentist, but you can be referred to an endodontist so that the tooth can be opened and drained of the abscess.

Other oral infections give us severe pain that makes us lose sleep even after taking pain medications. This will also qualify as a dental emergency and you should see your emergency dentist immediately. However, these conditions are already advanced, and if these conditions were treated earlier, they could have not reached the point of becoming a medical emergency.

Injury to the Tissues and Facial Pain

Puncture wounds, lacerations of the mouth and cuts to the lips, tongue, mouth, and cheeks are considered an injury to the tissues and constitute a dental emergency. These injuries should be cleaned with warm water immediately. Visit your emergency dentist as quickly as possible.

To relieve the facial pain that goes with tissue injury, take acetaminophen as directed on the packaging label. Aspirin or ibuprofen should not be taken as they can cause excessive bleeding.

If you are not sure whether your condition constitutes a dental emergency or not, here are some things to consider. You might have a dental emergency if your mouth is bleeding, if you are in severe pain, if you have loose teeth, if you have been hit in the face or mouth, if you have swelling in the mouth or facial area, or if you have bulges and swelling in your gums. If any of these is true of you, then you might have a dental emergency. You should call on your emergency dentist immediately. Make sure to describe to your emergency dentist what has happened and what you are feeling.

Emergency Tooth Extraction

At AZ Specialty Dental, our emergency dentist will try to save your tooth. But sometimes it is not possible to save the tooth because of severe damage. Tooth extraction may be the only solution to this. We provide this service and other emergency dental services to those who need it.

Whether you need a tooth extraction or not, only a qualified dentist can tell you. We will give you the right treatment that you need. You can simply walk-in our clinic and we will provide you with immediate dental care. You don't need to wait for regular business hours. you can come at any time and we are even open weekends and holidays.